Introduction

Welcome to the online Scottish BATS journal. Bringing Scottish BATS onto the web allows us to share our bat sightings, discussion and conclusions about bats with others near and far. Scottish BATS has always been eager to publish articles which would otherwise remain within notebooks, computer files or people’s heads. Without the stimulus to put this information down in publishable form, it can be lost, or at least never achieve a wider circulation.

Scottish BATS relies on contributions from bat enthusiasts from all over Scotland, including you. Please help to keep this publication alive by submitting your results, discussion and conclusions. Papers and articles concerning bat conservation and research can be published in scientific and regional journals of Natural History. Scottish BATS is intended to complement these publications and to collate information about bats in Scotland in a recognizable and easily accessible form.

There have been five hard copy volumes of Scottish BATS from 1992 to 2000. These volumes are also presented on this website for completeness and ease of referencing. Future volumes of Scottish BATS will now be published online. Volume 6 of Scottish BATS was published in October 2014 and Volume 7 to be published in March 2017. We are always eager to receive bat articles for publication at any time, so please get in touch if would like to contribute.

Aims of Scottish BATS

o To provide a publication outlet where bat workers, researchers and enthusiasts are encouraged to share their experiences and knowledge of bats in Scotland.

o To help bring Scottish bat groups closer, assisting all groups to learn from each other through education, research and enjoyment.

o To share our ideas and findings with a new audience outwith Scotland and the UK.

We hope that you find Scottish BATS a valuable resource and enjoy contributing with others to help us all understand more about bats in Scotland.